Local Coop - "Duo" ships allow a friend to act as a copilot, usable in multiplayer modes, second half of campaign, and some challenges

Original Soundtrack - over 14 tracks of music and hundreds of sound effects

Hundreds of Hours of Game Play - with 300+ abilities and 65 customizable hulls, the options are endless; use them in PVE or PVP

Who would have thought that the power of Creation was locked away by something as simple as magnification? The force of Will that runs through all of us is an endless source of energy. The Sages have learned to focus this energy on The Subrostrum, the quantum space beneath atoms. In this place, thoughts are louder than the laws of physics.

Sages can control the flow of time, snuff out stars, and rearrange the planets like playing with marbles. But the Consortium of the Inner Rings has decreed that a man who can destroy a planet with a thought will never be bound by its laws. So in the interest of Universal Order, the Sages are hunted to the outer rings by a version of their own known as The Extinguishers.

You play the role of a very unique Sage, who’s just woken up from (un)elective brain surgery. During the course of the 20-plus-hour campaign, you’ll travel the universe, meet a cast of colorful characters, explore unexpected locations, and discover your purpose.

Ring Runner will feature at least 65 fully customizable hulls. Each hull is a template that presents its own unique set of nodes. The game’s 300+ abilities are bound to pieces of equipment that can be equipped into the appropriate nodes. This leads to billions of possible configurations, so you can play the way you want.

There are two major kinds of abilities: passives and actives. You can load up your ship with tons of actives, giving you the flexibility to respond to nearly any situation, or you can equip more passives and launch with a highly optimized handful of abilities. Either approach is designed to be viable.

All of these abilities are unique and can radically affect the way you play the game. You’ll have well over a hundred of them by the end of the story-driven campaign, but you’ll have over a hundred left to unlock. These abilities are designed to never become obsolete. In other words there, is no rocket and rocket +1; each ability presents a new game play option.

The first half of the campaign is designed to introduce you to Ring Runner’s rich game play and universe. It keeps you engaged with a variety of mission types ranging from cruiser battles and turret defense to racing and covert ops. Many of the missions in the second half of the campaign can be challenged through local two-player coop by selecting a Duo in the hangar. Player-two assumes control of a free-rotating turret, while player one pilots and guns as with single-man ships.

Sage skills are earned through missions in The Subrostrum. These missions are similar to mini-games and offer game play inspired by classic games such as asteroids, missile command, and brickout. Master Sages may re-challenge these missions on higher difficulty settings to achieve more powerful versions of these skills.

Wave Mode can be challenged alone or through online coop. You and up to three friends must survive waves of increasing difficulty.

Spire Battles can be challenged alone or through 4-on-4 online competitive or cooperative multiplayer. The goal is to destroy the opposing enemy base before they destroy yours.

Deathmatch is a fast-paced, straight-forward option for online competitive play. Teams of 3 square off for a chosen amount of rounds. The round ends when all of the ships on one team have been destroyed, stressing survival and offense equally.

The AI is modular, able to pilot any of the game’s combinations of skills. If a player drops at some point during the game, the computer will immediately assume control of their ship, minimizing interruption to online gameplay.

Although the demo will only take you through the Grappler and Fighter introductory arches, you’ll be able to play with all five archetypes. The Rank 5 ships, not included in the demo, will provide you with all sorts of hybrid options, combining the strengths of multiple archetypes.

We’ve created some videos that demonstrate the five different archetypes of ships in Ring Runner: Arsenal, Caster, Grappler, Fighter, and Rogue. Take the time to watch some and tell us which you’re most excited to play on our forums.

As stated in the video, this passion project has been funded by part-time jobs and student loans; even software licensing and legal fees have been paid in this manner. We’ve been at this for five years, and we recently graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas, turning our loans into bills!

We need your help to purchase a few remaining licenses with enough burger-money left over to keep us fed as we race to the finish.

The book and soundtrack are all but finalized, and the game is in a very advanced state, so we can guarantee that you’ll receive high quality products for your backing.

External Links

Risks and challenges

Because the project is so advanced, there is very little risk on the part of the backers. The game will be completed and delivered as soon as we are able, but the question of how it will be distributed -- or published in the case of the book -- still remains.

Our focus is to release a quality version on Windows platforms, but if the game is successful, we have every intent to make it available to Mac and Linux users. Currently, you can play the game on a Mac if you bootcamp Windows.

As far as playing this game on mobile devices (with iOS or Android), we'll do what we can. The control scheme should translate fairly well to touch screens, but it will require a device with considerable graphical power to run.

Rewards

You selected

Pledge $5 or more

6 backers

A digital copy of an exclusive short story, “The Stone Patch,” written by the game’s author and co-creator, E C Dryere. Find out how a quarrelsome band of hillbillies on asteroids helped to shape the future path of human evolution.

-And-

Optional membership into The Sages’ Club, which will keep you informed of all the latest Ring Runner progress and give you a direct line to the creators for all your feedback.

Estimated delivery:Nov 2012

You selected

Pledge $15 or more

381 backers

A digital copy of the PC GAME (available upon release).
-And-
Special thanks on the “Founders” page of our website.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $20 or more

60 backers

A digital copy of the game's original SOUNDTRACK, featuring over 14 songs.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $30 or more

57 backers

A digital copy of the full-length Ring Runner NOVEL.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $40 or more

33 backers

Access to our BETA, which offers the first 10 hours of the story-driven campaign, access to all Rank 4 hulls and over 200 of the game’s skills.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Nov 2012

You selected

Pledge $50 or more

22 backers

X2! Ring Runner is more fun with friends! Add another digital download and another early pass to beta.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Nov 2012

You selected

Pledge $75 or more

10 backers

ALL ACCESS HANGAR: an unlocked version of beta, which allows you to fly in any of the 65 hulls and equip any of the 300+ skills.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Nov 2012

You selected

Pledge $100 or more

10 backers

CREDITS! In addition to all previous rewards, you will be thanked in the credits of the game.

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $125 or more

2 backers

SPECIAL MESSAGE! Add a short message that will appear in our credits along with your name.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $250 or more

6 backers
Limited (26 left of 32)

NAME A LOCATION (planet, city, or even galaxy) We have a limited amount of each. What type of place you get to name will be handled on a first-come first-serve basis.
(And all previous rewards)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $325 or more

1 backer
Limited (4 left of 5)

(LIMITED!) BECOME A GAME DESIGNER. Work with us to CREATE A NEW SKILL of your choice and be credited as a designer. You'll be involved in the entire process, from defining what the skill does to how it looks and sounds. (And all rewards from 5-125)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $375 or more

1 backer
Limited (19 left of 20)

CREATE and NAME a CHARACTER in the game. Got a whacky personality for a space pirate? Help us develop a character and we'll incorporate him or her into the plot.
(And all rewards from 5-125)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $500 or more

2 backers
Limited (18 left of 20)

BECOME A GAME DESIGNER. Work with us to CREATE A NEW SKILL of your choice and be credited as a designer. You'll be involved in the entire process, from defining what the skill does to how it looks and sounds.
(And all rewards from 5-125)

Estimated delivery:Mar 2013

You selected

Pledge $750 or more

0 backers

Receive AUTOGRAPHED copies of the SOUNDTRACK and NOVEL along with a personalized thank you letter from the Ring Runner team.
(And all rewards from 5-125)

Estimated delivery:Apr 2013

You selected

Pledge $1,000 or more

2 backers
Limited (23 left of 25)

Triple-B-Titles Club MEMBERS FOR LIFE. In addition to receiving AUTOGRAPHED copies of the SOUNDTRACK and NOVEL, you will receive copies of every game and book that Triple-B-Titles produces for the rest of our careers!
(And all rewards from 5-125)

Estimated delivery:Apr 2013

You selected

Pledge $5,000 or more

1 backer
Limited (11 left of 12)

In addition to the $1000 rewards, we’ll build you a customized SHRINE in game for everyone to see how awesome you are.
(And all rewards from 5-125)

Estimated delivery:Apr 2013

Funding period

Sep 28, 2012 - Nov 12, 2012
(45 days)

Eureka! You've found our little secret.

Sign up for our Happening email for all the inside info about arts and culture in the Kickstarter universe and beyond.